Improved washing-machine



S. HULL Washing Machine. No. 35,025. Patented April 22, I862,

flw Jilzdw UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SHELDEN HULL, OF OXFORD, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVED WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,025, dated April 22,1862.

"To all whom it 712/667] concern:

Be it known that I, SHELDEN HULL, of OX- ford, in the county of NewHaven and. State of Connecticut, have invented a new and ImprovedClothes-\Vashing Machine; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 is a plan or top view of my invention; Fig. 2, a side sectionalview of the same, taken in the line as, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in thefigures.

This invention relates to an improved clothes -washing machine of thatclass in which plungers are used and the clothes cleansed by compressingthem in the suds and forcing the latter through them.

The object of the invention is to obtain a simple and efficient machineof the class specified, and which will perform its work more rapidlythan hitherto without injury to the clothes and with a moderateapplication of power.

The invention consists in the employment or use of a V-shaped box havingan upright attached to one of its sides, from which is suspended aswinging bar or frame having a plunger-rod attached to each end of it,the plungers of which are peculiarly arranged, and all the partscombined to operate as hereinafter described to effect the desiredresult.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinventirm, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a V-shaped box, which is attached to and supported by asuitable base, B. To one side of this box A there is secured an upright,C, the upper end of which is curved inward over the box A, and has abar, D, suspended loosely from it by a pivot or bolt, (I. The bar I) hasa bar, E, rigidly at tached to its lower end at right angles. The bar Eis nearly or quite equal in length to the upper end of the box A, and toeach end of said bar E there is secured by a point or bolt, 1), aplunger-rod, F.

G G represent the plungers, which are formed each of a series ofparallel plates or wooden strips, 0, of suitable thickness, placed andsecured at a suitable distance apart on rods d. (See Fig. 1.) In theback part of each plunger G G there are placed frictionrollers e, whichbear on the inner surfaces of the inclined ends ff of the box A, and aredesigned to obviate friction.

The lower edges of the plates or strips 0 of the plunger G are at rightangles to the edges which are parallel with the end f on which saidplunger rests; but the lower edges of the plates or strips 0 of theplunger Gform acute angles with their edges which are parallel with theend f on which said plunger rests and works. This is clearly shown inFig. 2.

The box A, as well as the plungers and other parts of the machine, maybe of wood. The bolts or joints may be of metal, if desired.

The operation is as follows: The clothes to be washed are placed in thebox A, which is supplied with a requisite quantity of suds, and the barE is vibrated or swung by the operator, the bar D working on the pivotor bolt a. As the bar E is thus operated the plungers G G rise and falland act alternately upon the clothes, which are compressed and rotatedwhile immersed in the suds. The turning of the clothes is effected bythe plunger G in consequence of its oblique end, the obliquity of thelower ends of the plates or strips 0 of said plunger having atendency asthey descend to force upward the clothes on the opposite end f of thebox A and partially turn them beneath the plunger G, so that bothplungers, each time they descend, act upon a fresh surface of theclothes, and consequently all parts of the latter will be cleaned.

The bar E is suspended in a state of equipoise, the plungers being ofequal weight, and hence the machine may be operated with but littlelabor. The plungers may also be made to operate at a greater or lessdistance apart by shortening or taking up the rods F, which may be doneby having a series of holes, g, made in them, through either of whichthe bolts 1) may pass. Thewhole arrangement, it will be seen, isextremely simple and eflicient. The spaces between the plates or strips0 of the plunger admit of the latter passing freely through the suds.

Having thus described my invention, What edges at right angles with theend on the I claim as new, and desire to secure by. Letters Patent,isi 1. The V-shaped box A, in combination with the swingingbar E and theplungers G i G, attached thereto and Working on the inclined endsf ofthe box, substai'itially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. Constructing the plungers G G of a series of parallel plates orstrips 0, the plates or strips 0 of one plunger, G, having their lowerbox on Which their plunger Works, and the plates or strips 0 of theother plunger, G, having their lower edges forming an acute angle withthe end f 011 the box on which their plunger works, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

SHELIIWJN .IIULL. lVitnesses:

LEVI C. LEWIS, CHAUNCEY BARKER.

